Next to Me (Triplets book 3)

Chapter 24

Elyse had been traveling for almost twenty-four hours straight and had gone through too many time zones to count. When she reached her small hotel in the capital of Togo, West Africa, she fell into her bed and slept the clock around. 

She woke the following day with sunlight streaming across her face, and thoughts of Sawyer were in her head. She had hated leaving him, and although she had only stayed with him in his home for a week, it had felt like home.

Elyse couldn't help but think of all the ups and downs that they had been through in the past eighteen months. He was so much a part of her life that she couldn't imagine it without him in it.  She had once felt that way about flying, but now she had to accept that she felt that way about a man, and not just any man. She had to go and fall in love with an international movie star who was beloved by the world. Not only was he adored by many, but he also came from a life of ease and took it all for granted.

It was a concept that she couldn't reconcile in her head since she had had to work her butt off to get to where she was in life. The cruise ship felt like a lifetime ago.

Elyse reached for her watch. She hadn't scheduled anything for the day, so she could take her time learning the city and area since it would be where they would need to reside until the hospital site was livable.

She got up and showered before heading to the dining room to get a meal. She finally took the time to pull out her phone and check her messages.  Of course, she had several from her sister, but she smiled when she saw she had some from Sawyer.

"I love you!" The first text read, and her heart stopped. She could hear a whooshing in her ears, and she had to force herself to breathe as she read the next one.

"COME HOME!" Home, he had said home. She closed her eyes. Why did she have to be so far away, and why did he have to tell her through a text?

"I need you like the air I breathe." She, Elyse Moore, actually sighed a little on that one.

"I want you in my life forever. Marry me!" She set the phone down on the table with a shaky hand. His words were a dream come true, but she was upset he had done it through a text. It felt like he was too scared to do it in person. She took a deep breath and picked up the phone to finish reading as pirates and the church in Antigua bounced around in her head.

"Sorry. My sister stole my phone and sent all these texts. I don't want you to feel pressured or anything." And now she felt sick. She read the last sentence quickly, like pulling off a band-aid.

"I do love you. I didn't want to say it in a text, but I do. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Her eyes grew wide. He was coming here? When?  Elyse needed to think before she responded if she responded. Was there anything she could say to make the situation better?

Why was loving Sawyer Richards so hard?

*******

Four months later

Elyse had never responded to his text, and he had never sent another text to her. He had never come to see her like he said he would. Elyse poured herself into her new job, learning quickly and making it a personal mission to get the hospital up and running as soon as possible. Other than the annoying engineer, Bradly Potts, who had arrived shortly after she had, she had no trouble navigating her new position in life, but she had always been adaptable in almost every situation.  The only thing she had never learned and adapted to was loving Sawyer.

Shay and Phee arrived two months in, and it was nice to have some female company around. The three of them worked well together, and Elyse made it a point to keep it professional and never ask about Sawyer, even though she desperately wanted to.